Thursday, August 30, 2012

Evolutionary scientists insist that the millions/billions of years framework is what makes the evolutionary worldview make sense. With billions of years, they think, anything could happen, including unimaginably complex genetic coding and life arising from non-life materials. But this is perhaps the most absurd argument ever put forward, and truly evidence of futile thinking (see Rom 1:21-22, 1 Cor 1:20, 1 Cor 3:19). With this kind of logic, I should be able to shut the door to the pantry in my kitchen, give it enough time, and have it automatically order itself. This is the "logic" of evolution. But it flies in the face of what we know to be true in observational science, and that is that the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics makes a mockery of this reasoning. The 2nd Law of Thermodynamics explains that items go from order to disorder, from new to decaying. That's why shirts get threadbare after repeated washings and the dustbunnies in my pantry, no longer how long I wait, will not order themselves.

Time has no inherent design capabilities. Time is a measuring stick, that's all.

"For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools." Romans 1:21-22

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

We Americans have a tendency to think it's going to be all noble and Joan of Arc-ish for us, marching bravely and grandly for The Cause, but it's not going to play out that way. It's going to play out with us being spat upon and mocked and reviled all the way, and this Chick-Fil-A skirmish should be a wake-up call for all Christians. Are we prepared for that kind of persecution? Settle it in your heart today, now, where your heart allegiance lies: is it with God? or with the world, and being loved by the world?

Sunday, August 5, 2012

Dr. John MacArthur, pastor of Grace Community Church, has just finished a wonderful sermon series on Isaiah 53 and Jesus Christ as the ultimate Servant. From The Astonishing Servant of Jehovah, the first sermon of the series:

Now for this morning, I finally want you to open your Bible to the fifty-third chapter of Isaiah, Isaiah chapter 53, and we are about to embark on a study of this immensely important portion of the Old Testament.......

Now if you’ve been a Christian for any time at all, you’re very familiar with this section of Holy Scripture, and you should be. It has been called by some scholars in the past, “The Fifth Gospel…The Fifth Gospel,” to be added to Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. It was Augustine who said way back in the fifth century, “It is not a prophecy, it is a gospel.” It was Polycarp, the student and friend of the Apostle John who called this section of Scripture “The Golden Passional of the Old Testament. Martin Luther himself said, “Every Christian ought to be able to repeat it by heart.” So, that is going to be your assignment, to memorize Isaiah 52:13 through 53:12, and you will draw on it the rest of your life. It is very likely that you already know most of it if you have been a student of Scripture for any length of time.

A couple of German scholars writing in 1866 said, “It looks as if it had been written beneath the cross of Golgotha. They further said, “Many an Israelite has had it melt the crust of his heart.” The same German scholars went on to say this, “This chapter is the most central, the deepest and the loftiest thing that Old Testament prophecy out stripping itself has ever achieved,” end quote.

You’re going to find in this section of Holy Scripture the root of Christian thinking, even though it is Old Testament. You’re going to find here phraseology that has entered and remained in Christian speech and conversation. You’re going to find in this section of Scripture the text that has been used by more gospel preachers and writers through history than any other portion of the Old Testament. In fact, Isaiah 53 is the heart of Hebrew writings. It is the epoch messianic, prophetic Scripture that stands above all others in the Old Testament.

Thursday, August 2, 2012

Dan Cathy, President of Chick-Fil-A and son of Chick-Fil-A founder Truett Cathy, was recently under fire for taking a strong public stance against same sex marriage. Said Cathy in several interviews:

"We are very much supportive of the family -- the biblical definition
of the family unit. We are a family-owned business, a family-led
business, and we are married to our first wives. We give God thanks for
that...we know that it might not be popular with everyone, but thank the
Lord, we live in a country where we can share our values and operate on
biblical principles." (online source)

"I think we are inviting God's judgment on our nation when we shake our
fist at Him and say, 'We know better than you as to what constitutes a
marriage,' and I pray God's mercy on our generation that has such a
prideful, arrogant attitude to think that we have the audacity to try to
redefine what marriage is about." (online source)

I've always had somewhat mixed feelings about Chick-Fil-A because I have generally
perceived them to be more culturally Christian and moralistic than
authentically Christian. But the answer that Dan Cathy gave in "that"
interview was the biblical answer (God defines marriage, not man), as opposed to the watered-down, and Godless, moralistic answer (same sex marriage is bad for the culture, children, etc.), and it made me want to stand up and cheer (and
eat a chicken sandwich, too).

Slightly off topic, but I've often contemplated the idea that
there probably are some true, born again believers who just are very
culturally Christian in their appearance, and I've therefore wondered
what would happen for those true believers if they were really pressed
on a biblical issue, and there was no way out: what would they say? what
would they do? Well, Dan Cathy surprised me by actually giving the
biblical answer, not the moralistic answer. I was so surprised and
encouraged by what he said that I probably went a little overboard,
with posting CFA posters to my wall this past couple of weeks, such as this.....

and this........

and this........

and this.......

So I'm hoping that all this controversy will be eye-opening for Dan Cathy, whom I've always perceived to be somewhat "culturally Christian"
(no more Confucius, please, CFA), and encourage him to do the hard thing, the culturally unacceptable thing, and continue to take the biblical stance on all things going forward. Now......who's craving some waffle fries?